Archive for March, 2010

After a grueling 30-day delay on receiving the Red One Mysterium X digital cinema camera, the Eagle has finally landed! I hope to break new ground with this (and its forthcoming replacement the Epic X) camera over the coming year. Because I plan to finish my film at 1080p, I will probably film a lot of my Red MX footage at 50 frames per second at 3K resolution, for that nice poetic slow-motion effect.

Also, two days ago we sought out and found an extremely rare and mind-blowing “secret” location here in Northern Arizona. When we arrived, we could not believe our eyes. Our jaws hit the ground. We shot 4 timelapse dolly moves and one panning timelapse out there the first night, and we haven’t even gotten warmed up yet. This location must be among the most amazing on earth. We have named it simply, “The Holy Land.”

Tom & Dustin at the office working on “Southwest Light” from Timescapes Behind the Scenes on Vimeo.

My assistant Dustin and me arriving in Ajo. Amazing landscapes.

We’ve been here in Ajo, Arizona for about a week now, and we are enjoying the hell out of this place. I had spent two weeks here last year shooting sequences for “Learning to Fly”, living in a simple tent out in the middle of the desert. It had been an incredible feeling of freedom spending that time here, especially with weather so balmy in February that I was walking around in flip-flops and a tank top. I was really eager to get back here this winter. I have not been disapointed.

Saguaro Cactus on Eastern side of Goldwater Bombing range. The US Air Force was kind enough to provide the epic lighting

Things started out with “bang” with this sequence pictured above of a massive Saguaro cactus lit by several battlefield illumination flares dropped by Air Force jets. We pulled a dolly move on this cactus with the 14mm 2.8 II, and right in the middle of the move, those flares lit the entire scene up. What appears to be a “sun” in the distance is a flare. And two more flares are high in the sky behind the camera providing the “front lighting” on the cactus and desert landscape. Cheers, US Air Force!

The Office

Most days, we head out for location scouting around 2pm or 3pm, scout for several hours, pick a spot, and get the dolly set up by sundown. We often shoot a sunset shot, then kick back and start a fire while waiting for “astronomical sunset” about 1.5 hours after proper sunset. In addition to Canon, Kessler Cranes, and camBLOCK moco, I’m beginning to think I should have tried to secure us a sponsorship from Coors Light as well.

Here are a few more behind-the-scenes photos…

We will probably stay in southern Arizona for another week at least, and then possibly head toward Sedona/Flagstaff or Death Valley